1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a foldable bottle having a closable pouring part.
2. Discussion of the Background
Known bottles of this type are made, for example, of plastic, if appropriate by blow molding, and serve for containing liquid or granular substances. With a foldable bottle design, it is possible for these bottles to be folded flat in an empty state and therefore take up little space either in waste containers or during transportation to a filling plant for reuse or to a recycling or disposal site.
A foldable bottle of this type, known from EP-A-0,408,929, has an essentially rectangular cross section above its bottom part. Provided in the bottom part is a recess in the form of an inverted V, whose upper edge forms a folding edge which extends horizontally when the bottle is upright. The two ends of this horizontal folding edge coincide in each case with a folding edge which is vertical when the bottle is upright and extends on opposite walls of the bottle so that the empty bottle can be folded into a virtually flat configuration essentially along the three folding edges. The V-type recess merges on both sides in rounded transitions transversely to the horizontal folding edge into two narrow, strip-type standing surfaces parallel to the horizontal folding line and continues into two opposite bottle walls which have no folding edges. By means of this V-type recess, the lowest portion of the bottle is divided into two compartments which only communicate when the level of the contents of the bottle is higher than the upper edge of the recess.
A disadvantage of this bottle consists of the fact that its stability is very poor, specifically for the following reasons: even in the filled state, this bottle does not have a flat bottom surface, but rather only the two parallel strip-type standing surfaces which merge in a rounded manner into the vertical bottle walls; as a result, its stability is reduced. In an almost empty state, it is possible for the bottle contents to be located in only one of the two compartments of the lower portion of the bottle, such that the bottle is very unstable. Due to the V-type recess, the capacity of the bottle is also reduced, with the result being that such bottle must be taller than a bottle of the same capacity with a flat bottom, which likewise has a negative effect on stability.
A further disadvantage of this bottle is to be seen in the fact that, for completely flat folding, the material has to be creased in some places by applying pressure because there are not enough prefabricated folding edges